WATCH: There should be a job in every house, says Maimane

DA members seen at the party's manifesto launch in Johannesburg. DA leader Mmusi Maimane said his party will create jobs and root out corruption. Picture: GENEVIEVE QUINTAL

Job creation, fixing SA’s ailing economy and eradicating corruption is the focal point for the DA ahead of the 2019 general elections, as the party launched its election manifesto in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The party hopes to install DA premiers in ANC strongholds, Gauteng and the Northern Cape, as well as grow its support in the Western Cape.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane made a clear distinction between how his party governs compared to the ANC.

He told supporters at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg that his party wanted a country where citizens got up every morning and went to work.

The Democratic Alliance launched their manifesto on Saturday, February 23 2019, at the Rand stadium, in Johannesburg. Here are 5 points from the launch.
Subscribe to TimesLIVE here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TimesLive

“We are approaching the day when there will be more people out of work than people with jobs.

“I have a dream of putting a job in every home. It cannot be that four out of every ten South African households do not have a single income. If we can put at least one job in every home, it will completely transform these households,” he said.

In a clear jab toward President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC-government, Maimane said all the country was hearing were mentions of “more summits, more talk shops and more plans”

He said the reality was that the country had run out of time.

He referred to job creation in the Western Cape, where the DA governs, saying that more than half the jobs in SA were created in the province over the past year. In Johannesburg, where the DA's Herman Mashaba is mayor, Maimane said the metro had created over 100 000 jobs over the past two years.

“No matter which way we look at it, the DA, as a governing party, is simply in a different league.”

Maimane said job creation could be achieved by freeing up small business owners, entrepreneurs as well as rebuilding the economy by maximising sectors which were key to job creation, such as manufacturing, agriculture and tourism.

He said the DA would pass a Jobs Act which will offer tax incentives for people to come and open businesses that create jobs.

He also said the party would introduce a year of “voluntary national civilian service” which would create a bridge between school and work, it will also offer school leavers, or those not moving onto tertiary education, work experience.

On the question of land reform, Maimane said the DA opposed the amendment to section 25 of the Constitution to allow for expropriation of land without compensation. The party wanted to ensure section 25 was “protected”.

The ANC and the EFF are calling for the Constitution to be changed. The EFF want wholesale nationalisation of land while the governing party wants to be able to expropriate land without compensation.

Maimane said the DA would fight this and the matter would land up in court.

He said the DA had shown that it could deliver land reform within the ambit of the Constitution and that where there was a contestation it could be settled through SA’s legal system and not through politicians.

“We must never enslave our people at the mercy of the state,” Maimane said.

In terms of the fight against corruption, the DA leader said corrupt politicians should spend at least 15 years in jail.

He said the DA wanted to create an independent and fully-resourced Anti-Corruption unit which would be staffed by specialist prosecutors and investigators.

Maimane said tenders should be awarded in the open and that no politician should be allowed do business with the state.

Gauteng currently has an open-tender system which was introduced by current premier, David Makhura.

Maimane said there should be “zero tolerance”. He said he wanted to build a SA where no one was left out.

“We can afford it if we get our priorities straight. If we sell off the SOE’s that don’t work, if we eradicate corruption, if we slash our cabinet in half, if we stop wasting money on unnecessary luxuries, then we can build the country of our dreams.”